1. Technical Field
This invention relates to alarm systems and, more particularly, to an alarm system for a sewage pipe and associated method for providing an alert when an existing sewage pipe is partially blocked and experiencing reduced fluid flow therethrough.
2. Prior Art
One of the more unpleasant experiences that anyone can ever undergo is to have sewage back up into a home or business. Regrettably, tales of basements and floors full of black, smelly sewage coming up from toilets, drains and bathtubs are all too common in homes and businesses. Whenever this happens, damage can be extensive and the cost to repair or replace carpet, flooring, and furniture can add up to a lot of money. Many times, the problem is further compounded when homeowners that experience extensive damages because of sewage backups learn that their home insurance policy has a clause which excludes this type of damage from insurance coverage.
Sewage backup is not limited to older homes and can occur in newer homes as well. There are essentially two types of sewage backups. The first (and most common) is caused by tree roots growing into a home's sewage pipelines. The other is caused by municipalities not having sufficient storm sewers to drain all the water in the community, whether it's from a storm or regular use. If you discover that you have sewage backup problems, experts recommend first calling the town's public works department to see if it might be related to municipal sewer lines. Next, call a plumber. Hopefully, the backup problem was not severe enough to cause any major damage but, even if the backup was minor, a lot of inconvenience and being exposed to offensive smells and unsanitary conditions can be experienced. If the sewage backup is severe, the problem is drastically increased. Obviously, it would be advantageous to provide a means for alerting an individual that a potential septic tank or sewage problem exists.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,962,370 to Borriello discloses a sewer alarm that is provided for warning of overflow conditions in a house trap. The sensing mechanism consisting of a magnetic float switch with no moving parts other than the float itself, and the magnetic activating switch is sealed from the hostile environment found in a house trap. The alarm cap member houses the magnetic float switch with physical dimensions similar to a typical cap installed in an unalarmed house trap and substantially has only wires protruding from its exterior face. Unfortunately, this prior art example only activates an alarm when substantial clogging has already occurred within a pipe.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,480,469 to Tice discloses a float-operated electrical switching system with two fluid-level indications and with provisions for mechanical adjustment of the difference in elevation between the two indicating points. The switches are magnetically actuated in accordance with proximity of a permanent magnet carried by the float. The float is guided on an upright magnetically transparent tube which houses the switches, and for at least one of the switches, mechanical adjustment of elevation within the tube is available via external access at the upper end of the tube. Unfortunately, this prior art example does not provide an audible sound to alert a user of existing problems within a pipe system.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,392,128 to Young discloses a sewer back-up alarm apparatus for placement in an existing sewer line connecting a residence to a sewage collection system. The alarm apparatus includes a connection element connected into a sewer line, an adaptor attached to the connection element, and a cap attached in air-tight and water-proof relationship to the adaptor. The adaptor also has an O-ring for sealing the cap to the adaptor, whereby backed up sewage in the sewer pipe forcibly ejects the cap from the adaptor and permits the backed up sewage to flow onto the ground, rather than into the residence. The back-up alarm system also includes first and second electrical conductors extending into the interior of the connection element for electrically contacting backed up sewage to produce reduced electrical resistance between the first and second conductors. An alarm circuit generates an alarm signal in response to a reduced resistance to actuate an audible buzzer. Unfortunately, this prior art example only alerts a user when a problem has already occurred and does not provide a method for preventing such a problem.
Accordingly, the present invention is disclosed in order to overcome the above noted shortcomings. The present invention satisfies such a need by providing a system that is convenient and easy to use, lightweight yet durable in design, and designed for providing an alert when an existing sewage pipe and like conduits are partially blocked and experiencing reduced fluid flow therethrough. The system is designed for detecting problems within a piping system and alerting a user of such problems, thereby enabling a user to use preventative measures to fix problems within the piping system before actual damages occur. The present invention is simple to use, inexpensive, and designed for many years of repeated use.